A top-up to the EU’s flagship Horizon Europe programme has opened up new research calls offering ways of pushing food innovation towards the market.

The European Commission recently added €500 million to the programme’s 2026-2027 budget, including the cross-cutting Bridging Actions call aimed at linking existing Horizon research to the market – a focus shared by the upcoming European Competitiveness Fund.

While only one of the new actions names alternative proteins directly, others cover areas like agrifood, biotech and the bioeconomy, and may suit researchers interested in scaling and commercialising ways of diversifying our protein supply.

And with most of the deadlines coming in the early months of 2027, now is the time to begin working on applications.

• Automated Scientific Discovery – Food (RAISE pilot) (HORIZON-RAISE-2027-01-02) explicitly mentions automated experimentation in biomass and precision fermentation, including the development of alternative protein sources, alternative fats and food ingredients. This call focuses strongly on AI and lab automation and is expected to help improve efficiency and reproducibility. The deadline is 2 February 2027.

Taking earlier research to the market

The following calls are not specific to alternative proteins, but are relevant to those working on scaling up and commercialising findings of earlier food innovation research. 

They build on the Horizon Europe Pillar II research projects, which focuses on global challenges and European competitiveness. If your work hasn’t been funded by this pillar, these calls may not be open to you directly, but you can look for partners who are eligible.

• Valorising Horizon project results (HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-06-02) is aimed at pushing the results from Horizon Europe Pillar II research towards the market, by prototyping, testing and piloting earlier findings, looking at areas such as agrifood and the bioeconomy. The deadline is 16 February 2027.
• Advancing promising Pillar II results (HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-02-05) funds the real-world testing and validation of completed projects with a high level of technical readiness, focusing on commercialisation, scaling and investment bridging. Proposals relating to the Strategic Technologies for Europe platform (STEP), such as biotech, should demonstrate how they can bring cutting-edge technology with market potential to the single market and reduce the bloc’s strategic dependence on imported materials. The deadline is 28 January 2027.

Building skills network for innovators

Another two calls are for consortia to set up support schemes that could benefit alternative protein startups and researchers once they are up and running.

• Skills for innovative SMEs (HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-05-01) is a mobility scheme that could provide opportunities for alternative protein startups to collaborate with researchers from across Europe, providing them with the expertise necessary to help develop food innovations. The consortium runs open calls for SMEs from sectors including biotech, agriculture and the bioeconomy, able to demonstrate they have an innovative idea and the skills can’t be found in their national labour market. It then offers grants to recruit PhD-level researchers from both STEM and social science backgrounds for up to 24 months, covering salary and relocation costs. The project opens on 1 December 2026 and closes on 3 March 2027. This deadline is for consortia, not for individual startups and researchers.
• Access to research infrastructure services for industry-driven R&I (HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-03-06) provides startups and scale-ups with international and virtual access to research infrastructure services, helping businesses and researchers foster innovation. The scope is wide-ranging, but alternative protein startups could benefit from area one, which covers biomedical and food technologies. Any beneficiaries must grant researchers open access to their outputs during the project and for two years afterward. The project opens on 9 March and closes on 15 June 2027.

Other opportunities

The Systemic approaches to accelerate transformative change for biodiversity (HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-03) cross-cutting call is a looser fit for alternative proteins, but may be of interest to researchers interested in developing more nature-friendly food systems. The deadline is 14 January 2027.

Remember that the European Research Council’s Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, and Proof of Concept grants are also available to all researchers regardless of topic. 

Check out our resources if you’re interested in applying for these calls: 

• If you’re looking for research ideas, our Advancing Solutions initiative highlights high-priority knowledge gaps.
• Individuals can use our alternative proteins researcher directory to connect with people interested in getting involved in the field, while researchers previously funded by GFI can be found on our grantee web pages. 
• Our company database provides information about potential private sector partners. The European Commission’s partner finding tool offers a similar resource. 
• You can find other relevant opportunities in our research funding database or see what projects are already being funded on our research grants tracker. 
• GFI is sometimes able to support strong research consortia addressing our highest priority research areas as an advisor – please get in touch for more information.

Author

Stella Child Senior Research Funding Advisor

Stella works to help the alternative protein research community across Europe secure grant funding for open-access research.